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What is beatmatching? Well, have you always wondered what the DJ was doing behind all that fancy (not to mention expensive...) equipment? Have you ever heard a DJ mix before? Have you ever wondered how the DJ made one song go to the next without noticing much of the transition?

Beatmatching is the core fundamental of DJ'ing. Whether the DJ spins techno, trance, drum and bass, hip hop, or any other electronica dance music genre, beatmatching is what ties everything together. So what is beatmatching you ask? Beatmatching is simply taking two songs and matching their Beats Per Minute (a.k.a. BPM...more on BPM later) so both songs can harmonize together. When a DJ is doing his/her thing, he/she is beatmatching the two songs so they can flow together in harmony...This is called mixing, and the finished product of beatmatching or mixing, is called a "mix" or "set".

What's so special about beatmatching? Beatmatching is used to make transitions from song to song much smoother than just playing one song over the next and fading the volumes. If all a DJ did was just play one song after the other, then might as well just bring a radio and hook it up to some speakers.

Why would a DJ want to beatmatch? A DJ beat matches songs in order to make a mix. That mix is what gets the people going and gets them pumped up. Just playing one song after the other is not enough. Actual beatmatching helps keep a constant flow of energy and as a result, makes the crowd happy. Things wouldn't sound as nice if DJs didn't beatmatch, songs would collide with each other and create a disastrous overwhelming
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Beatmatching or beat mixing is the backbone of all DJing. It is essential to get the basics of this skill before attempting anything else. Most people assume that beat matching is simply matching the speed of the beats (beats per minute, or BPM) of two tracks, but it goes a lot further than this. Good DJ's must also learn to phrase match, which, in other words means to match different parts of a song structure.

This tutorial is intended as a guide on how to beatmatch using only your turntable's pitch slider. This guide isn't ment to be the end all be all of this technique, it simply outlines how I go about mixing in this way. There are countless ways that you can beatmatch, not only using other methods, but even different ways to apply this single method, so don't take this as gospel. Also, this guide is intended for those who are
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